A Mocking Smile
by CakeMakesTheWorldGo'Round
Summary: A strange dream, a new client and a pair of rusted scissors. Three already dead, and more on the list. The streets are not safe anymore and a man hires SPR's help to stop the murders. But they are not ordinary; their mouths are slit open in a parody of a smile. Can SPR solve this case, or will they lose their lives in the process?
1. Chapter 1

Her long, black hair fluttered in the breeze. The streets were empty, and the moon was full, revealing the faded trench coat that swished along her ankles. Red seeped into the beige material from a deep wound in her stomach, blood dripping on the damp road.

She walked, completely soundless, leaving trails of scarlet behind her. The wind did not touch her, the cold did not bother her, the silence did not unnerve her; it was as if she were the eye of a tornado, beyond reach of the chaos whirling in the quiet of the night. The discontent was not visible to the eyes, rather it was the mind's eye that saw it; the sixth sense that detected it.

She would've been mesmerizing, were it not for the gruesome sight that was her mouth; cut from ear to ear, it was barely two flaps of skin; a mocking parody of a smile. A pair of rusted scissors glinted in the moonlight, the edges dangerously sharp.

She spoke, her voice chilling to the core; seemingly coming from everywhere,

_Am I...beautiful?_

That one line kept repeating in my dreams. It had been bothering me for some time, so much so that I preferred not to sleep, but I couldn't muster the courage to talk to Naru; he would probably insult my brain capacity and tell me to bring him some-

"Mai, tea!" And there it was.

A long-suffering sigh escaped my lips as I dragged my worn body to the kitchen. Preparing tea tended to calm me, but today, I just couldn't seem to get rid of the uneasiness I felt. The whistle of the kettle shook me out of my daze and I took the tea to Lin-san's office. Our relationship had gotten better after they came back from England; the talked and smiled more freely now. I knocked on his door and received a 'come in'.

Closing the door softly behind me, I placed the tea-cup on his desk, with ginger biscuits, his favourites. "Here you go, Lin." He smiled softly at me, "Thank you, Mai." I tried to smile back at him, fatigue clearly on my face. Concern on his face, he asked, "Is everything okay, Mai?" Inserting false cheer into my voice, and trying to look like I wasn't lying, I said, " Everything is fine. Thank you for your concern." Producing a somewhat real smile, before he could ask anything else and widen the cracks in my façade, I quickly made my way to Naru's office.

Armed with the remaining tea-cup and a plate of mint and chocolate wafers, I squared my shoulders and got ready to approach him. Without bothering to knock, I made my way inside, gave him the tea and wafers, and was nearly out of the door when his cool voice stopped me. "Mai, are you sleeping well enough? I need your full concentration if we decide to take a case." I must really look bad if Naru was curious. Despite the fact that I knew this was his way of showing he cared, I could not stop the anger that was sparked by his words. But the anger was gone as fast as it came; smothered by the uneasiness I felt earlier, along with a sick feeling in my stomach.

Trying to regain my composure, I slowly turned around to face him. Crossing my fingers, I prayed I wouldn't stutter, as this would alert him to my lies. "I have exams, so I stayed up late to study." I shrugged my shoulders for good measure, as if to say 'you know how it is', but of course he wouldn't know, his intellect surpassed everyone his age and most elders. He gave me a look that shouted 'do you think I'm stupid?'. Slumping my shoulders, I dropped all pretence of being okay, and Naru's eyes widened as he took in my look of utter defeat. "Mai..." he began softly. Never before had he used a tone so caring towards me.

"What happened to you?" The question I hoped he wouldn't ask passed his lips. If I told him the truth, I would have someone to help me with my dreams and to share my experiences with, but, Naru would spend more time focusing on me rather than research, which clearly needed to be done. Dealing with my problems would only cause inconvenience for him. It was an easy decision.

"I-I don't want to talk about it. If I'm ready I will come to you myself. I just...want to come to terms with it myself, for now. But thank you very much for your concern, I really appreciate it." By the time I finished talking, Naru's face had gone back to stoic again. I hoped he understood that I wanted to deal with this by myself at the moment and didn't take offence. I smiled at him, a true smile, to show him that it was nothing personal before walking out of the door. "Wait, Mai," I stopped and gave him a curious stare. "We have a client due at 5pm. Make sure to finish the remaining paperwork by then." I nodded and sat down at my desk, my mood slightly less darker than before.


	2. Chapter 2

Five o'clock rolled by quicker than I thought. I had finished the paperwork thirty minutes ago, and was practising the breathing exercises Lin had taught me to send my mind in a meditative state, when someone knocked on the door. It was loud enough that it startled me from my peaceful state and I momentarily lost control of my PK, sending my bag flying onto Naru's door.

He was going to kill me.

But before he could appear and send me into an 'I'm sorry! It won't happen again' frenzy, the front door opened and revealed our client, he looked around 22; my age. His face was youthful, but marred by recent worry lines, and his shoulders slumped as if the whole world was placed upon it. As I took in his haggard appearance, his aura came into view; completely grey, except for the few streaks of relief. It seemed that our client had lost a lot of sleep over his ghost problem, from what the dark circles under his eyes and the exhaustion in his posture told me.

"I-I have an appointment. My name is Akio Manabe." He bowed. I instantly pasted on a smile and bowed back. "It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance. My name is Mai Taniyama. You may call me Mai if you like." My bright smile seemed to have lifted the depression from his aura a bit, leaving his happiness at finding a pleasant person to help with his problems. "The pleasure is all mine. I will call you Mai if you call me Akio." I grinned at him, also feeling a lot better.

"That sounds acceptable." I led him over to our black leather couch and told him to take a seat. At this moment, Naru came out of his door and gave me a warning look, and received an apologetic one back. "I am Kazuya Shibuya, the CEO of Shibuya Psychic Research. Please state your problem." he said.

Now more at ease, Akio said, "I think a ghost is haunting the small town I live in." _Strike one_. Naru hated it when people dawdled and beat around the bush. At Naru's cold stare, he continued. "I know that this sounds like a human culprit, but-", _Strike two_. Naru also hated it when people whose intellect "didn't even come close to his" – in his words – assumed to know what he was thinking. Akio visibly gulped at the look in Naru's eyes, and continued, albeit hesitantly. "P-people are being found with their mouth cut from ear to ear in the early morning when the first shifts start in the factories. Three people have already died; cause of death was determined blood loss." I tried to stifle my horrified gasp and looked to Naru. His irritation gone, his mouth settled into a grim line. "Have you contacted the authorities? And how can you be so sure that it is not a human committing these murders?" Akio's eyes turned sad and he glanced at me.

"No one has contacted the authorities because you have a reputation of avoiding the media. As with the murders, I am positive that it is a ghost. I have CCTV footage to prove it, but the videos don't have any sound." He held out a package and Naru gestured for me to put the disks in the DVD player.

The screen flickered as the video began.

It was dark and a man walked alone on a deserted street. He kept looking around like he was expecting something to jump out at him, and was heading towards the camera. He turned his back to the camera and appeared to be talking on his phone, so he didn't see the shadow approaching him.

The figure had long, black hair and was wearing a trench coat.

My uneasiness returned full blast. It just wasn't possible; this was probably just a coincidence, and had nothing to do with my dreams. On the screen, the woman stalked behind the man, like a graceful cat, and whispered into his ear. The blood drained out of his face, and he answered back. The woman smirked dangerously, her back still to the CCTV camera; the man stumbled back as his eyes caught the bloody scissors in the woman's hands. She lunged onto him, and brought the blades to his face. Prolonging his torture, she slowly slid the blade over the man's face, tearing the skin straight through. Streams of blood flowed out of the cut, painting his face and colouring his clothes. Silent screams erupted from his mouth at the overwhelming pain.

Slowly. the woman turned and faced the camera, grinning dementedly. She disappeared into thin air, then suddenly her face filled the whole screen. Her mouth opened, revealing a row of blackened teeth, surrounded by rotting gums and her tongue slithered out, trailing along the lens of the camera, covering it in saliva. She spoke, but we did not hear, and then stabbed the lens with her scissors.

Slowly, the screen faded to black...

I hadn't even noticed I was crying, tears falling in hot rivers down my cheeks. An agonised wail filled my ears, and I realised I was making that heart wrenching noise. There was no doubt about it; she was the one I had been dreaming about. Unconsciousness tugged at my senses and my eyelids became heavy.

But one thing shook me most of all. She had mouthed not a sentence, but a name.

And the name she uttered…was mine.


	3. Chapter 3

My bleary eyes opened slowly, and the world swam in and out of focus. Surrounding me was a never-ending darkness, shattered by floating souls that left behind fading trails and jaded feelings.

I tried to get to my feet, but my movements were sluggish, and took a lot of energy. Normally, if you could call this normal, I woke up in this plane completely relaxed, but this time, my body felt heavy and a migraine pounded behind my eyes.

This could be caused by only one thing.

I had been called without my consent.

As I swayed on my feet, my eyes caught a lone figure standing completely still.

She looked mournful, so very broken, yet when she glanced at me, her eyes were resentful and bitter. There was an enthralling beauty about her; dark hair, alabaster skin and soft curves. I did not think one could be graceful in stillness, but she...she radiated elegance; the curve of her neck, the shadows of her lashes on her angular cheeks, her posture. She was a cat; feral, yet nimble.

Those eyes were a familiar pool of black, but I couldn't place where I had seen them before. Her white dress fluttered in the non-existent breeze, reminding me again of contained chaos.

She cocked her head, the movement bringing me back to my senses, and scrutinizing me, as I her. She strode towards me, practically gliding, the darkness parting for her as if it were a curtain.

I could see her approaching me, but I couldn't move.

A part of me was screaming at me to move; the other was curious. Coming to a stop in front, she looked at me straight on, her eyes pulling me in like a cold, dark abyss, void of any happiness or feelings.

I was absently aware of one of her pale hands reaching out and capturing my chin in them, and the coldness of them hit me like a freight train.

Ice bled from her fingers and onto my face, spreading, burrowing into my flesh and finally settling deep in my bones. It felt like I would never be happy or warm again.

Then the images started.

It was a stream, no, more like a river of memories, only fleeting images, sounds and feelings, but leaving me disorientated all the same.

Our beings merged and suddenly I became a child, naïve and innocent, looking up at my mother and clutching at her hand. No, not my mother. These were her memories; the woman with the cold hands, and I had to remember that and not lose myself.

Now, I was atop my - no! _Her _father's shoulders and laughing, gripping his hair, feeling happy and content. The teenage years came next; I was sent adoring glances by men, and envious ones by women wherever I went.

My beauty was a sight to behold, and I wasn't even matured fully yet. But there was a dark feeling lurking in my heart; these men didn't see me, they saw my beauty. No one loved the real me; my father was dead, and my mother too, was jealous of me.

Then, I was kissing a man at my wedding, and all was right with the world. My surroundings flickered, and now that man, the one I loved so much, was hitting me, a pair of scissors glinting dangerously in his hands. Pain across my face and my stomach, and blood, there was so much blood. All the feelings left my body.

I was ripped back to myself, breathing laboured and limbs weak. She abruptly let go of my chin, and I crumpled to the ground, as if it was only her hand that was keeping me upright.

From my place on the ground, I looked at her, really looked at her, and saw not an evil spirit, but a woman who had been wronged too many times in her life.

She started to walk away from me, and the dream plane burst with light. "W-wait. I don't even know your name." Glancing toward me with expressionless eyes, she stopped. She gazed at me for a long moment, a minute or just mere seconds, I did not know. Then resumed gliding calmly away, as though a moment hadn't passed between us.

The last thing I saw and heard was a blinding light, and a whispered name.

Akemi. Her name was Akemi.

* * *

_Akemi - Bright and beautiful; red beauty_


	4. Chapter 4

I groaned as a migraine pounded between my ears, made worse by the harsh lamp light that illuminated the room.

My eyelids fluttered and finally opened, and I was faced by a concerned Lin as he tried to help me up.

"Mai..." Naru started to talk but was cut off by my hand. "Naru, right now, I feel as if someone is drilling a hole into my head, so if you wouldn't mind, I would like some pills and you will have to wait until they take effect to start interrogating me."

For a second, Naru looked taken aback, but he recovered quickly. "Lin, go get Mai some medicine."

I sat up and cradled my head into my hands, trying to shut everything out. A hand on my shoulder made me look up, and Lin handed me two tablets and a glass of water.

I downed them as quickly as possible, and let out a sigh of relief as my headache ebbed away.

I turned to face Naru, "Okay, shoot." He raised a brow at me and I shrugged; we couldn't all be perfectly polite, life would be really dull if that were the case.

"Mai, what did you see?"

I gathered my thoughts and started to remember.

"When I 'woke up', if you could call it that, the first thing I noticed was that my head was aching, and that my body was heavy-"

"So whatever it is we are investigating is strong. Strong enough to call a borderline incompetent medium to her dream plane, not that it would be difficult." Naru smirked.

I huffed, annoyed. "If you want me to tell you, stop interrupting."

He gestured for me to continue. "So, as I was saying, my body was heavy, and I felt really sluggish. I stood up, but I was weak and started feeling dizzy when I saw a woman. She looked so sad and lost, but I could tell she was dangerous.

Her eyes were cold and bitter, as if her life had been taken before she could really live. She looked familiar, like I had seen her before, but I couldn't remember where. I couldn't move, and trust me, I tried to, when she started walking towards me.

She held my face with her hand, and they were so cold. It was like they were made of ice; it didn't take long for my whole body to feel frozen. But the weird thing was, I felt like I would never be happy or warm again.

She started feeding me her memories, but they were vague and I couldn't concentrate on them.

The one that stood out was when she was getting married; she as happy that she had found someone who loved her for the person she was, not her beauty.

But then the surroundings changed. Her husband was holding a pair of scissors, and he was hitting her.

Everything was hurting, but I'm pretty sure he managed to cut her across her face and stomach.

There was so much blood.

I felt drained; all the feelings left my body, kind of like dying.

She let me go after I was back to myself, and started to walk away, but I called after her and asked for her name.

She just stared at me, and turned away, and everything exploded with light. The last thing I remember was her name whispering 'Akemi."

Naru looked deep in thought, as did Lin.

I shifted my weight to become more comfortable and gasped as felt some pain from my stomach.

Both Naru's and Lin's heads shot towards me, and I started to lift my top.

What I saw on my stomach made even Naru's eyes widen.

Right where Akemi was slashed during my dream, was a thick pink scar.


End file.
